Dynasty politics: BJP should look within, says Congress (Lead)

New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) Hitting out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah over his criticism of party Vice President Rahul Gandhi on dynasty politics, the Congress on Monday said “BJP should look inwards as to who follows the practice”.

The party slammed Shah for criticising Gandhi over his criticism of the government during his visit abroad, saying the precedent for that had been set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

The party also reminded Shah of the “series of scams” under the BJP-led government.

Referring to Shah’s criticism of Rahul Gandhi, Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said: “I do not know whether to laugh or cry. The BJP president is perhaps not aware of the millions of statements which were made by PM Narendra Modi in different forums all over the world, which demeaned this country.

“There was an unspoken consensus in this country till 2014 that when you leave the shores of India, you leave your politics behind. That consensus was broken by PM Modi when he made the domestic politics of India open to global contestation. Therefore, the BJP is reaping what they have sown.”

“I don’t think Amit Shah should be shedding crocodile tears on it. When you sow the wind, you reap the whirlwind. This tradition of dragging domestic politics to foreign shores was consecrated by none other than Modi. Amit Shah would be advised to revisit his statements.”

Tewari added: “Speaking the truth is not falling low. What Gandhi has stated in the US is based on facts and truth. There is not a grain of untruth in any of those statements.”

Attacking Modi, he said the Prime Minister chose to break the unspoken consensus in the most partisan manner. “Unfortunately for him history starts in May 2014. So, this course is a two-way street.”

On the issue of dynasty politics, Tewari said: “Those who talk about dynasty, if they don’t believe in dynasty then why are Prem Kumar Dhumal’s son Anurag Thakur and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vansundhara Raje’s son Dushyant Singh in Parliament? What are they doing in Lok Sabha?

“Chhattishgarh CM Raman Singh, on whom there are charges of PDS scam, what is his son doing in Parliament. Before pointing fingers at others, BJP president should look inwards,” he added.

Tewari lambasted the BJP for being selective in their approach. “They seem to suffer from permanent amnesia when it comes to their own corruption.”

Attacking the government, he said: “We would like to ask the BJP who facilitated the escape of Vijay Mallya, who gave travel documents to Lalit Modi, what is happening in Madhya Pradesh with regard to Vyapam, where are all the accused and people connected with the case seem to be dying?

“what about the Chhattisgarn PDS scam? What about Srijan in which their latest ally (JD-U) and their own Finance Minister (Sushil Kumar Modi) of their party is allegedly involved?”

He said in the past 40 months the NDA-BJP government under Prime Minister Modi had “completely disrupted the social harmony” in the country. “They have subverted the federal structure, played havoc with internal security, demolished the economy.”

“The track record of this government is indicative of the fact that they do not know how to govern. Every economic indice is in a free fall and is reflective of the policy paralysis,” he added.

He said: “They failed to deliver on all the commitments made to people and this frustration is making them fall back upon the politics of polarisation, divisiveness and subversion.”